Take a deep breath
by haretikers
Summary: Two-shot. Be born a twin, lose a twin, love a twin. It hurts because they were one from the beginning. Sora and Roxas.
1. Nine Years Before Now

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Sora, Roxas or Kingdom Hearts. Tah, I feel like part of me died from admitting that.

**Summary: **Be born a twin, love a twin, lose a twin. It hurts because they were one from the beginning.

-x-x-x

**Chapter One, "Nine Years Before Now"**

"Geronimo!" shouted my big bro as he jumped into the deep side of our indoor pool, causing a big splash.

After a few seconds he emerged from the water and started shaking uncontrollably, "Brrr… it's freezing," he whispered to himself so that I couldn't hear him.

Swiping his rich chocolate bangs away from his eyes, he noticed me still standing dry by the edges of the pool. I couldn't help it; the water just didn't feel right to me.

"Hurry up, Roxy!" my brother yelled.

"It's Roxas, not Roxy!" I yelled back, still glaring at the water as I muttered softly, "I don't like being called Roxy".

"Yeah, whatever," the brunet shouted back to me, "C'mon, it's just water."

And to prove his point, he got out of the pool and jumped in again, shouting "Geronimo!"

"Hehe," I couldn't help to chuckle at how spirited my bro was. Jumping into the water really seemed like fun but we were supposed to be asleep now. Mama had already tucked us in. But then my big bro pulled out a key told me to follow him quietly.

"Hurry up!" my big bro kept urging me.

"But Sora…" I said almost pouting, "We aren't allowed to go in when mama and papa aren't around." Plus it was late already, our parents were asleep and I'm a six year old, I needed my sleep.

"Don't worry," the brunet said reassuringly, "If anything bad happens, I'll protect you."

"R-Really?" I asked uncertain as I searched for that sense of security in his eyes.

"I promise!" he assured giving me a smile so shiny that it would put the sun to shame.

That was all I needed to hear before jumping into the pool while yelling, "cannon ball!"

The splash I produced was slightly smaller than my big bro's, but only slightly.

"Brrr," was the first thing that came out of my mouth when I emerged to the surface, "It's cold."

"Think fast!" My big bro warned playfully before splashing cold water to my face.

"Hey, no fair!" I shouted, splashing water back to his face. And so the water war began, both laughing and clearly thrilled.

He and I were twin brothers, and although the doctors claimed that we were fraternal, we were almost a carbon copy of each other. We only had some slight differences but they were so few I could actually count them with the fingers of just one of my hands.

Sora, my big bro by only thirteen minutes, was right handed, had bright blue eyes, rich chocolate hair and was usually more outgoing than me.

I, Roxas, was ambidextrous, I had dark blue eyes, sun shiny hair (as my big bro liked to call it) and was usually more reserved and somewhat dependant of my big bro. But it didn't bother me because whenever our parents separated us for more than ten minutes my big bro was usually the one who started crying.

"Hey Roxy," my big bro said giving me a toothy grin, earning a glare from me in the process, "I bet I can hold my breath under the water longer than you."

"No you can't" I retorted, "I can do anything just as good as you can."

"Alrighty then, prove it," he said with a smile that reminded me of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland, "I dare you."

"No!" was my meek response, crossing my arms defiantly to emphasize the "no".

"Alrighty then," my big bro responded, snickering a little before he let out his trump card. I watched his mouth as he slowly said "I double dare you."

"I…" I was at a lost of words. I can't back away from a double dare, can I? "…fine" I whispered feeling defeated, making my brother grin with triumph.

"Okay," he said, "On the count of three, two, one," both of us submerged ourselves under the water and held our breaths for half a minute. Both coming out of the water at the same time.

"See?" I said as I tried to catch my breath, "we are the same."

"Rematch!" He announced loudly, but before I even had a chance to voice my complaint he said, "Three, two, one…"

This time we lasted forty seconds under the water.

"See!" I wheezed out, "It's a tie".

"No!" my big bro whined, splashing water around before saying, "One more time!"

"No!" I shouted at him.

"Pretty please!" the brunet pleaded, putting his best sad puppy eyes on display for me.

"…oh okay," I groaned.

"Hehe, three, two, one…"

Once we submerged ourselves again, only one thought plagued me. Sora wasn't going to quit, at least not until one of us loses. But for the first time in my life I think I can actually take him on. Who knows, maybe this time I could actually win.

A minute had already passed and I could feel my lungs already giving out. But I didn't care, even though we were under water I could still see clearly Sora's bright blue eyes and big smile, taunting me to give up first.

_I'm not going to lose, I'm not going to lose, I'm not going to_ "blargh!" _I need air!_

In the two seconds that took me to return to the surface, gasping for air, I already thought of how much my big bro would mock me for giving up first. Needless to say I felt disappointed in myself.

"I lost…" I lamented as I waited for my big bro to come out at any given second.

"Come out already!" I yelled as I grew irritated, "You already won."

But still, my big brother stayed under water.

"Sora, it's not funny, come out already," I complained, growing uneasy, "Sora…?"

I was about to cry when my big bro finally emerged from the water, face down.

"Phew…" I said, letting out the breath I didn't realize I was holding, "you scared me for a second there, big bro."

But Sora said nothing. The brunet just continued floating upside down.

"Big bro…?" I said, swimming to his side. I grabbed him by his shoulders which felt colder than my hands. I turned him around to face him.

Little did I know the world as I knew would crumble when I turned him around.

**-x-x-x-x-End of Chapter One-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** Hehe, hopefully I managed to kill a few minutes of your boredom. I dunno about this story so far but if I get reviews, I'll continue it. Nah, I already have the second chapter of this twoshot written. I'll upload it tomorrow after classes are over. Hahaha, I read an article in wikipedia about "twinless twins" and I knew I just had to write a little something about it. Roxas will be 15 in the next chapter.

_**WARNING! Don't read what's up ahead.**_

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	2. Nine Years after Then

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Sora, Roxas or Kingdom Hearts. Stop making me repeat myself already!

**A/N:** A big thank you to everyone who reviewed.

-x-x-x-x-

**Chapter Two "Nine Years after Then"**

It was a **Sun**day and I'll be starting at my new school tomorrow as a sophomore.

_Hmmm… why was Sunday called like that anyways? Was the Sun supposed to shine brighter today?_

_It's so stupid._

"I'm bored," my big bro expressed nonchalantly. Sprawled like a couch potato on the floor. Over the years he had become so much taller. He was slender but athletic, his rich chocolate hair was a little spikier than before, his bright blue eyes had dulled a bit but his smile was still able to put the Sun to shame.

"You can always leave, I didn't ask for your company." I said, and it was true. After my therapist finished one of her 'checkups' on me, she left and I slouched on my living room sofa, opting to sleep for the rest of the day.

But _he_ always found a way to wake me up, no matter how hard I tried to keep my eyes shut.

And although I pretended to find his presence a nuisance, I was secretly happy. I always felt safe when he was near me.

"So…" My big bro started after he got tired of hurling the sofa cushion upwards like if it was a basketball or something like that. "What do you do in days as boring as these?"

"Hn… just lay back, I guess," I answered, almost yawning. "I don't like hanging with people that much."

"Well that sucks," my big bro said with a pout before it turned into a childish grin, "Oh I know!" he announced, suddenly getting on his feet before saying, "what you need is a pet."

"A pet?" I questioned, raising a blond eyebrow.

"Yeah, a pet, to keep you company," he stated cheerfully like if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Let's get you one right now."

I was going to object but, as usual, my complaints fell on deaf ears. My big bro had already hoisted me up from my sofa and said, "Pet's store, now!" in a tone that left no room for argument.

He was so enthusiastic about it he practically pulled me out of the comfort of my house and now we were both rushing to the pet store. I could already feel my arm hurting since, through all this running we were doing, he had refused to let go of my wrist.

When I finally caught a glimpse of the store over the distance I pulled my hand away and said, "Can we _please_ just walk?"

"Ah… um… alrighty then." He responded, tuning down his hyper persona. The rest of the walk was in conformable silence. There never was need for words between us.

"Oh look at this one!" My big bro quickly cheered, tapping on the window mirror of a golden retriever. "This is one of the best races of dogs out there. Let's get him!"

"I dunno…" I said not convinced about owning a dog.

"What's not to know?" My big bro asked, blinking twice, "dogs are loyal and playful. They are man's best friend."

"But they are also loud, messy, and too much work." I debated back.

"Alrighty then," he responded, narrowing his eyes at me, "How about a cat? They clean themselves up, right?"

"They are also treacherous backstabbing ingrates" I remarked, narrowing my eyes as well.

"Hmph," He bit his bottom lip as he approached me, peering right into my eyes, "So what pet would be worthy of you, oh mighty Roxy?"

"It's Roxas!" I retorted, resisting the urge to stand on my toes just to front him. We were twins, but somehow he managed to grow one inch taller than me.

"So what's it's gonna be?" he asked again.

"Uhhh…" I scratched right below my left ear as my eyes scanned the area, "How about a goldfish?"

"A g-g-goldfish? A FREAKING GOLDFISH?!" he retorted loudly, "You might as well buy yourself a sock puppet for all the company a goldfish would make."

"Then let's not get a pet then." I suggested, shrugging my shoulders just because I knew Sora hated it when I shrugged my shoulders at him.

"…fine!" he said, walking out the store, "I guess we just wasted our time, didn't we?"

"No we didn't!" I said catching up with him. It was not a waste of time. I wouldn't trade the moments I spent with my big bro for the riches of the world. "Spending time with you is not a waste of time, big bro."

"Hehe," he chuckled, "I know, I like spending time with you too."

And that was the last exchange of words we did on our entire walk home. Once there, I slouched back to my sofa while big bro threw himself on the floor again.

After a few more moments of silence he started speaking again, "You know, it's a good thing we didn't get a pet."

"Really?" I said turning around to give my back to him, "Any particular reason for that conclusion?"

"Yeah…" he said, grabbing the sofa cushion again for his entertainment, "We don't want another life lost on your conscience, do we?"

"What?!" I exclaimed, turning around to face him but he was no longer there.

_Another life lost on my conscience?_

"Oh honey, you woke up just in time," My mom announced, entering the living room with two groceries bags in hand, "help your father take the groceries out of the car, okay honey?"

"Um… okay…" I responded, suddenly realizing my body was covered in cold sweat.

_It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream. _

_Duh it was just a dream. My twin brother drowned nine years ago._

_I must have dozed off right after my therapist left. Yeah, that's what happened._

_But it felt so real…_

"Oh and honey," My mother said, turning around with a smile, "where's the golden retriever?"

"Excuse me?" I gaped.

"Miss Claymore, our next door neighbor, said she saw you window shopping for a golden retriever."

**-x-x-x-x-End of Chapter Two-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N: **Huzzah! Another chapter completed. So readers, I'm curious, are you a dog, a cat or a fish person. What's your typical pet of the three? Anyways… thanks for reading.

**PS:** If a get lots of reviews I'll consider turning this into a full out story. But the rating may change to **T** and then to **M**, just so you know.


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